The high school football season is now over and the post season awards are starting to stack up for players around Hampton Roads.

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl has recognized two players from Hampton Roads this year. Phoebus quarterback Tajh Boyd and former Western Branch quarterback Kevin Newsome. Newsome played for Hargrave Military Academy this season.

Being named U.S Army All-American is one of the top honors a high school football player can receive. There are currently over 80 former U.S. Army All-Americans in the NFL today, including six first-round draft picks. Reggie Bush, Adrian Peterson, Tim Tebow, Tedd Ginn Jr and Chris Wells are just a few of the great players to make this list.

In the 8 year history of the U.S. Army All-American game, 9 players from Hampton Roads have been honored. That list includes: Kai Parham, Carlos Campbell, Levi Brown, Chris Bell, Xavier Adibi, Elan Lewis and Tyrod Taylor. You could say the path to this great game played in San Antonio, Texas goes thru the 757 area. Ninty players from across the nation make up both the east and west squads and two players from the 757 will be there this year.

With so many national awards to go around, I’ve always felt that being named to the All-State team was the top honor a player could recieve. A long time ago I was named to the Carnation All-American team. Also named that year was some guys named Doug Flutie and William “The Refrigerator” Perry. Dont get me wrong, It was a great honor, but being recognized as a top player in your state is hard to top.

If you would like to see Newsome and Boyd perform at the US Army All-American Bowl game, you can see the game live on WAVY TV, January 3rd at 1:00.